ryanl321 Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4362 days ago 94 posts - 101 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish
| Message 17 of 118 10 January 2014 at 7:42am | IP Logged |
Today was a tough day to meet any of my goals. Work then we took a friend that was visiting town to dinner. I
just got in. I did practice Spanish on Duolingo and listened to over 2 hours of podcasts in Spanish. Listened to
several podcasts on dw.de for German, and got through Pimsleur for 30 minutes today for French. At least I
practiced every language today!
1 person has voted this message useful
|
BAnna Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4620 days ago 409 posts - 616 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish Studies: Russian, Turkish
| Message 18 of 118 10 January 2014 at 4:57pm | IP Logged |
It is inspiring to read about how you are managing to fit in your language studies in a busy schedule.
Mach weiter so.. ¡Siga adelante!
Edited by BAnna on 10 January 2014 at 4:58pm
1 person has voted this message useful
|
ryanl321 Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4362 days ago 94 posts - 101 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish
| Message 19 of 118 11 January 2014 at 5:55am | IP Logged |
BAnna wrote:
It is inspiring to read about how you are managing to fit in your language studies in a busy
schedule.
Mach weiter so.. ¡Siga adelante! |
|
|
Thanks BAnna!! My goal is to keep up the posts throughout this year. Your comments are inspiring!
Edited by ryanl321 on 11 January 2014 at 5:56am
1 person has voted this message useful
|
ryanl321 Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4362 days ago 94 posts - 101 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish
| Message 20 of 118 11 January 2014 at 6:08am | IP Logged |
Hit my Duolingo goals today. My streak is 28 days right now, I find the time before I actually get out of the bed in
the AM is when I get most of my Duo practice in. I like to do the timed practice at the desktop. Boy, that timed
practice is sure a great way to learn! The excitement of getting the translation before the timer ends is sure
motivating.
German - Listened to about 50 minutes of audio today, DW.DE news and a mix of German songs that I imported
into LingQ so I would find time to learn the words as I listened to the songs. I got to go through a few flashcards
in while walking from my car to my office, and elevator, about 10-15 cards reviewed in this short period. No
where near the time I need to do a sufficient job with German. I'm really excited to get my skype sessions on this
weekend.
Spanish - Got in about 30 - 40 minutes of podcasts and Spanish songs, which driving to and from the office. I
signed up for the 90 day challenge on LingQ to commit to meeting my goals for Spanish through 4/15. That will
keep my motivated to at least track my activity in LingQ. I have a lot of destinos to review over the weekend.
French - Got in a full Pimsleur and a half track (~45 min) while getting ready this AM.
I've been lucky this week, my wife has been home to take care of the kids. She goes back to school starting next
week so we'll see how this goes. We've done this before but I hope committing to French doesn't take me down
on my German or Spanish. I really need to improve these languages but I really want to learn French. Good night!
1 person has voted this message useful
|
ryanl321 Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4362 days ago 94 posts - 101 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish
| Message 21 of 118 11 January 2014 at 6:17am | IP Logged |
Want to make one more comment before I sign off. My wife and I had dinner with a good friend from high school
last night. The guy travels for a living but plans on vacationing in Aruba next week and going to Germany and
France to pick up his new car and make a bit of a tour in Europe in May. Our 10th wedding anniversary is this year
and we really wanted to go to Europe but it just doesn't work out with the kids and all. We're thinking instead to do
a Montreal visit, later this year or possibly even the first of next year. I understand parts of Montreal only speak
French, almost like English isn't welcomed. I'm really excited to go there and practice. I might only have 9 months of
French under my belt at the most at that point. Is Montreal a good place to go to practice speaking French? Are the
people there accepting of Americans putting forth the effort to practice their language and forgiving of possibly
butchering it at the same time?
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Duan Newbie Canada Joined 4794 days ago 36 posts - 48 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish, French
| Message 22 of 118 12 January 2014 at 4:25am | IP Logged |
Hey Ryan,
Wow, you're a beast! I'm seriously impressed with all the work you put in, it's truly inspiring (in that now I
have to go study so that I don't feel like such a slacker). You're doing great.
Haven't been to Montreal in years, but it was my experience that the Francophones definitely appreciate
any attempts to speak their language. Another city to consider is Quebec City, the old town is beautiful
and it's got that European feel as well.
2 persons have voted this message useful
|
ryanl321 Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4362 days ago 94 posts - 101 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish
| Message 23 of 118 12 January 2014 at 7:10am | IP Logged |
Today was as great day for language learning. I took advantage of the kids playing on the Wii and got to hit up
my Duolingo goals between various activities we had planned for the day.
German - Had my hour long Skype conversation with my German friend. She talks in English and I try to only
speak German but that never really works out. I get about 60% German in during this time which is plenty. I
practiced a lot in Duolingo and got some word study in while in route to various stores today (my wife drove). I
did get some lingq.com training, but haven't caught up on my 7 day goals there yet. I'll try to do that tonight
before I go to bed.
Spanish - Finished a Destino's episode and listened to some recorded classes on Verbling.com. Got some good
Duolingo training in. On the 15th, I will focus heavy on listening and reading on Lingq.com since I signed up for
the 90 day challenge just for Spanish.
French - Duolingo training, some various pronunciation debates with my wife (je veux is not suppose to sound
like je vous, in her opinion), and about 12 minutes of Pimsleur. I had about 15 minutes of Lingq.com too. Good
day for French
You would think with all of this and my 2 hour bike ride this morning that I spend no time at all with my family.
The truth is I'm very cognizant of the time I spend with my wife and kids. I try to not have my learning and my
workouts interfere with the time I spend with them. However, I know it gets in the way but I try to avoid it.
Getting up at 5am on most days makes all of my activities practical for me and my family. bis später..
1 person has voted this message useful
|
ryanl321 Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4362 days ago 94 posts - 101 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish
| Message 24 of 118 12 January 2014 at 7:12am | IP Logged |
Duan wrote:
Hey Ryan,
Wow, you're a beast! I'm seriously impressed with all the work you put in, it's truly inspiring (in that now I
have to go study so that I don't feel like such a slacker). You're doing great.
Haven't been to Montreal in years, but it was my experience that the Francophones definitely appreciate
any attempts to speak their language. Another city to consider is Quebec City, the old town is beautiful
and it's got that European feel as well. |
|
|
Thanks Duan! I see that there is an article on Quebec City in Travel magazine. I'll brush up on that, great idea,
thanks!!
1 person has voted this message useful
|